The scene in India after demonetization
The Digital transactions in India have surged after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s shock ban of certain high-value banknotes in November that accounted for more than 80% of the country’s currency in circulation at the time.
WhatsApp’s entry as a payment app
Now we are receiving news from confirmed sources that Facebook owner the world’s most popular messaging service WhatsApp is coming up with a UPI payment facility in India, WhatsApp UPI. The news of WhatsApp UPI comes weeks after Brian Acton, a founder of WhatsApp, visited India and met Indian government officials to explore ways to contribute to “India’s vision for digital commerce.” Also, a job advertisement on WhatsApp’s website said it was looking for a candidate who understands India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and the BHIM payments app that enable money transfers.
For WhatsApp, which has 200 million users in India, integrating UPI in the name of WhatsApp UPI instead of building its own wallet would likely be a better option given the stricter guidelines for wallets put out by the Reserve Bank of India in its recent draft notification. UPI has also seen an increasing adoption after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the UPI-based BHIM app in December, which so far has seen over 18 million downloads. The app is also turning into a white-label app for several banks.
Just last week, Swedish communications app Truecaller, which has a large user base in India, started a mobile payment service in the country based on the UPI platform. It looks like all apps going forward will have a UPI payment facility built in it.
